38 Special (also written .38 Special and Thirty-Eight Special) is an American rock band named for the .38 Special bullet. The band was formed by neighborhood friends Don Barnes and Donnie Van Zant in 1975 in Jacksonville, Florida.[citation needed] 38 Special initially had a straight-ahead Southern rock sound, much like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the band of Donnie's older brother Ronnie.